A Little Fall of Rain

Summary: When the angel Ryou becomes smitten with a mortal who he believes can do no harm, he creates a misunderstanding, resulting in the wrath of the young demon Malik whose unrequited love was never satisfied in life.

Rated: T

Genre: Supernatural/Romance

Author's Note: I shaved off about 2000 words from this story's end, so the next chapter is going to be bam, bam, bam, action. It's all downhill from here. Or is it? And this part has a chunk of Ryou…so to all those Ryou fangirls I've pissed off, this one's for YOU! Whoo!

Disclaimer: Yuugiou is not mine, STUPIDS. Just kidding, I love you all.

On My Own

"More soup?"

Malik hiccupped, blushing a light shade of pink, "N-No thank you!"

The taller blonde sat back, frowning, "You know if you don't eat anything that nasty flu of yours is never going to go away…"

"I'm just not very hungry right now," Malik said quietly, hugging his knees, "but thanks for coming over. Even though…this wasn't exactly the birthday I was expecting…"

"Whatever, you only turn sixteen once, and what better way to spend it than in bed with your best friend? …I am your best friend, right?" Marik said suspiciously, narrowing his dark eyes.

"Of course! Do you see anyone else on my wall?"

Malik gestured to a large corkboard, upon which were countless pictures of the two boys in various poses. A handful of those images situated them in rather suggestive positions, but thankfully, the overprotective Isis had yet to notice them.

"Just making sure," Marik smirked, setting the bowl of soup aside.

Loud laughter was heard from outside the door, causing the taller of the two blondes to roll his eyes.

"Ugh, your sister laughs like a chipmunk."

"Your mom's out there too you know," Malik smiled, poking the small pink teddy bear Marik had brought him.

"Yeah, but she laughs more like a mouse. You've heard her."

"I find it fascinating that you know so much about how rodents express their happiness," the younger boy said sarcastically. "How does a squirrel sound?"

Marik smirked and ran a hand over Malik's exposed stomach, causing him to giggle. "Like this."

"How about a rabbit?"

Marik repeated the movement, a little harder this time, producing a shriller sound. "Like this."

Malik grinned, meeting Marik's eyes with an equally challenging stare. "And a fox?"

"Not a rodent," the taller blonde said smartly, "but I'm pretty sure they laugh like this!"

Marik pounced and pinned the other boy so he was laying on his back before placing his lips around Malik's belly button, blowing on it as a mother would do to tickle her baby. Malik squealed with high-pitched giggles, rolling from side to side in an attempt to escape Marik's wet mouth.

"S-Stop it!"

"And raccoons go like this!" Marik said before blowing another raspberry.

Malik doubled over in painfully enjoyable giggles (as he coughed between fits) and attempted to throw Marik off, only to get another, more powerful dose of Marik's new tickling technique.

"M-Ma-Marik! Quit it! Ahh!"

"Wait I haven't shown you how hamsters sound like!"

The smaller blonde braced himself for another attack when a third voice echoed happily through the small bedroom.

"AW, HOW ADORABLE!"

Both boys looked towards the door to find a very kind looking olive skinned woman standing just in front of a Malik's sister Isis, who had turned a lovely shade of crimson. Malik could already hear the hour-long sermon she was going to give him after Marik and his mother left.

"MOM," Marik whined, getting off Malik hastily, "Whatever happened to knocking?"

"Well what ever happened to cake and ice cream during someone's birthday?" Isis huffed, nostrils flaring.

"Aww, don't be such a killjoy," the older woman insisted. "I'm sorry for barging in sweetie, but Marik and I need to bring Ankha to the vet's office. I think she swallowed a paperclip…"

"Ankha?" Malik snickered, giving the other blonde an odd look.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, she's a dumb cat with a dumb name," Marik sighed. "Can't I stay here mom? Please, please, please, please, please-"

"Well," his mother said, twirling a strand of light brown hair around her index finger, "I don't have any problem with it, so-"

"NO," Isis said sternly, "you've been here since Malik woke up! Let him get some rest so he'll be able to go to school on Monday. I know you're worried, but I promise you he's going to be fine, so please just go with your mother?"

"But mom…"

"Marik, it is their house," she whispered apologetically. "I'm sorry for all the trouble Isis, but thank you for your hospitality."

"Sure thing," the younger woman replied, bowing slightly. "You're always welcome in our home Hasina. Your son on the other hand…"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," the taller blonde growled.

"Don't talk back to your elders," Isis shot back.

"You're only like twenty-five!"

"So?"

"I'm seventeen!"

"Exactly, you're a child!"

"I am not! So stop trying to verbally spank me and quit treating Malik like he's too young to know what the hell sex is!"

"He's my baby brother!"

"But he's not a baby anymore!"

"He is to me!"

"He doesn't need you to protect him when he's got me!" Marik snarled.

"If I ever see you that close to my brother again-"

Malik groaned and buried his face into his pillow. Not this argument again…

"Isis, don't you think you're overreacting just a teeny bit," Hasina said sheepishly, "they've known each other for a long time now…and well, um…it's expected that something would have blossomed between them…"

"MOM!"

"HASINA!"

"Mrs. Ishtar," Malik muttered, noticing that his older sister had turned the same color as his eyes.

"Oops, have I said too much?"

Marik glowered. His mother was a sweet woman, but at times a little dense.

"Forget it, I'm leaving. Later Malik." He winked. "Bye Miss Ishtal," he said scathingly, making a face that caused her younger brother to giggle.

"Goodbye Marik," Isis said, clearly happy to see the back of his head.

Ryou had taken the group to a rather expensive French Restaurant across the street from the nightclub, insisting that drinking alcohol without anything in one's stomach would lead to disastrous results. Malik protested vehemently, and Marik actually had to carry the demon to his seat, which was unfortunately straight across from Ryou. The two rivals had immediately begun round two of their hateful glaring competition, much to Bakura's amusement and Marik's annoyance.

Dinner was awkward; Ryou was doing all the talking, sneaking in snide observations about his target ("Malik, it's very impolite to have your elbows on the table.") and seemed to be the only one interested in eating, though he shared some of his steak with Bakura, who wolfed it down like it was nothing. Malik on the other hand was very satisfied with his glass of water ("WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY VEGETARIAN OPTIONS?") and refused to speak while in Ryou's presence. This led to an incredibly irate Marik, who had to suffer through Bakura's mind numbing rant about how unsanitary bathrooms were to doom the planet. The taller blonde had snacked on something before they had left and attempted to worm himself and Malik out of this abysmal dinner date, but to no avail.

Marik sighed heavily and cast a pained glance at Malik, who looked like he was about to drive his fork into someone's nose. The two blondes then glared irritably at the other two boys in their company, who were currently playing a round of tonsil hockey across from them. The smaller of the two was quivering in a giggling fit as Bakura placed very sloppy kisses along his pale neck. Marik and Malik looked at each other again, and rolled their eyes in unison.

"Well, I've had enough," the smaller sighed, tossing his napkin on the table as a sign of defeat. "Marik?"

"Let's go. We'll meet you two there, alright?"

"Aren't you going to stay for dessert?" Ryou asked innocently, trying to pry himself away from Bakura. "I heard the gelato at this place was excellent!"

Sensing an outburst, Marik quickly placed his hand over Malik's mouth and shook his head, "No thanks, dancing on a full stomach could be messy."

"If you guys decide to have a go at the bar save me a seat!"

"Do it your fucking self you lazy bitch," the taller blonde muttered, already annoyed with his roommate.

The two blondes stepped outside into the cool night air; the shorter of the two stretching so hard an audible crack was heard as his bones popped back into place.

"Never again," Malik whined, "never again…"

"Hey, at least it's over," Marik sighed, crossing the street besides Malik, "and it could have been a lot worse."

"I 'ate' water, listened to Ryou analyze how I held myself, and had to witness Bakura attempting to reproduce," the demon said darkly, "tell me how that could've been worse."

"I could've left you there," Marik grinned.

Despite his irritation, Malik laughed and continued toward the raunchy looking dance club ahead of them, the smell of sweat, sex, and booze already detectable on the sweet spring breeze. The young blonde wondered what exactly Marik needed to tell him, it seemed so secretive and intimate…but that whole 'this is not a date' comment dashed his hopes of it involving the words, 'I love you.' Still, Marik was putting his hands into his pockets almost obsessively, and seemed to be playing with an unseen object.

'It's either a ring, lint, or the world's flattest teddy bear,' Malik had thought.

"This is it," Marik sighed, gesturing to the neon lights adorning the club entrance, "Title, one of the best night clubs in Domino City. The alcohol's strong, the music's great, and now that you're with me I won't have to hang around Bakura."

"How's the bar?" Malik asked.

"The service is shit. Sometimes they just grab random dancers and stick 'em behind the counter. Guess they're too cheap to get a real bartender. Why? You up for some drinks?"

"Just wondering," the demon smiled, having lived in a tavern for two years, "come on, let's go before the other two…"

Lilac eyes widened. Held in the glass windows of a closed furniture store next to the club was the unmistakable reflection of Seto Kaiba. Malik quickly looked behind him in search of his caretaker, but saw only nameless faces and the bright lights of the restaurant they had just left.

"Malik? What's wrong?"

"I …um, nevermind, it's nothing. Let's go."

Marik paused and looked up, noticing the dark clouds rolling in from the mountains. "Looks like it's going to rain tonight," he said airily, wincing a bit.

"I didn't bring a jacket," Malik said, biting his lip. "And we walked here…"

"Don't worry about it. Worse comes to worse we can always use Ryou's puffy sweatshirt as an umbrella."

"With him still in it of course," the demon said a little too sweetly.

"Naturally," the other snickered.

As the two walked into the dark club, Seto narrowed his eyes. Jounouchi lingered beside him, unsure of what to make of the situation. Obtaining a pearl from Rishid, blackmailing

 Varon to obtain another… If an angel caught wind of what they were doing, all of them would surely be destroyed. Still, it was nice to be outside again…even if everything had changed.

"The angels will attack tonight," the taller demon said quietly, "there's one in the restaurant behind us…one is already inside the club. Katsuya…Malik's not going to make it to see tomorrow."

The blonde paled. Despite all the resentment he felt towards Malik, in the short while he had observed him, the young demon already seemed much happier than he had ever been. And if Seto was right…

"And we're just going to sit out here and let it happen?" he said fiercely, "Seto, I thought you said we came out here to protect him!"

"We did," Seto replied curtly, "and we will. But…I don't want to ruin his last night with our presence."

"What do you mean?"

"Malik isn't stupid, despite what you think," he added quickly, noticing the blonde's expression. "If he sees us in there then he'll know something's not right."

"So we're not going to do anything?"

"We can't do anything."

"Bakura?"

"Hm?"

"Umm…" Ryou blushed, watching his date scan through the very expensive wine list. "I was wondering…do you think Malik and Marik really…you know…or is it just one-sided-"

Bakura lowered the menu down immediately, "You're not serious about liking that blonde psycho are you?"

"Oh no," the angel said honestly. "I was just curious. Marik seems to be very dedicated to making sure no one thinks he and Malik are an item. So…I thought maybe Malik was the only one who felt anything…"

"It's definitely mutual," the taller teen clarified, "I told you. Marik's an idiot."

"Hmm." Ryou sighed. Maybe…maybe he shouldn't carry it out tonight…

"But enough about those two," Bakura continued, placing the menu to the side, "I want to know more about you. You're always trying to sneak in some kind of moral advice during our conversations. You trying to say I'm not a good person, or…?"

"Oh no, it's not that," Ryou blushed. "It's…it's habitual. I had a friend who used to do the exact same thing," the angel lied. "I suppose after awhile it does get rather annoying…"

"Just a little." The other smiled. "So, this friend. What's his story?"

"Story?" Ryou said nervously, "Um…well…"

Bakura's smile grew a little wider. Sharing a dorm with a psychology student had its perks. He distinctly recalled Marik laughing about how stupid it was when people brought up a non-existent friend in order to excuse themselves from a fault. Or, even stupider, to discuss a problem that they themselves had, but wouldn't admit.

"His name…was…" Mahogany eyes focused on a small bottle by the front desk. "Shoyu."

"Shoyu?" Bakura repeated, "His name was soy sauce?"

"His parents weren't very creative," Ryou coughed. "Anyway he grew up in the mountain region of Hokkaido where it snowed very hard during the fall and winter months, so it was always extremely cold. Every night he and his family would sleep in the same bed in an attempt to get warmer, so naturally they were very close…perhaps even closer than most families were. O-or so he's said," he added hesitantly, seeing the Bakura's eyebrow begin to rise in suspicion. "Um, anyway, when he turned ten his mother died of an unknown illness (though I'm sure the weather was somehow responsible) and he became very depressed, so much so that he ran away from home and stayed for eight years at a local church. During those eight years, he had no contact with his family, never talked to anyone his own age, and…basically didn't have…a life. Um…I suppose. On the eve of his eighteenth birthday, he saw his little sister, Amane, crossing the road in an attempt to visit him. She and him had always been very close, and I can only imagine the pain she felt when he went to live somewhere else… I-it was twilight…and it was snowing…so it would've been impossible for her to see the incoming truck…"

Ryou paused and bit his lip. "He dived in front of it in an attempt to save her but…"

"You couldn't." Bakura finished sympathetically.

"No…I…I mean he…"

The angel's shoulders slumped down in defeat, "She was killed instantly."

'And I died en route to the hospital.'

"What about you?" the medical student said softly.

"A few broken bones, bruises…" Ryou said distantly.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh don't be," the other smiled painfully, folding his napkin on the table, "I'm sorry to bog you down with such a depressing story. We should be joining the other two at the club, shouldn't we?"

"I guess," Bakura said, his thoughts still lingering on Ryou's sad tale.

"Please don't think about it too much," Ryou laughed lightly, "It was nearly twenty years ago…"

"But you're only nineteen, aren't you?"

"I meant it feels like it was twenty years ago," he said quickly, "You know…a…a lot of things have happened in my life since then. I find the best way to deal with loss is to accept it and move on."

"Wise words," Bakura muttered.

"Thank you," Ryou blushed.

When the two white haired friends finally did make it to the club, they were greeted by a large crowd of sweaty, intoxicated young adults who looked too out of it to fully register anything anymore. A long bar table caught Bakura's attention, and he immediately tried to shove his way to it, a perturbed Ryou in tow. The space was dark, illuminated by countless neon signs adorning the walls, a strobe light was set to match the beat of the current song. There were hundreds of people, some chatting, some drinking, others trying to score a one-night stand. While Bakura fought his way to the bar, he noticed that a crowd had formed around the dance floor, cheering on a single couple.

"That bastard!" Bakura laughed, changing direction and pulling Ryou along, "Oh my God…I cannot believe this!"

"Well, this is certainly X-Rated," the angel blushed, trying to weave his way between the bodies.

Marik and Malik were grinding so close together Bakura was afraid the smaller would lose his virginity right then and there. Both were drenched in sweat, moving furiously to the fast-paced music, Marik trying to catch Malik's lips after every other beat. Finally, as the music came to a slow end, Malik (who had been in front) turned and wrapped his arms around Marik's neck, Marik placing his around Malik's slim waist. Ryou's eyebrows rose so high they disappeared into his hairline. The two blondes were practically eating each other's faces, much to the delight of Bakura and their audience; it was much more passionate than the whipped cream fiasco, but surprisingly, also much messier. After a good two minutes, the kiss finally broke, Marik being the first to pump his first into the air as the crowd roared. Malik looked rather impatient and quickly began to kiss him again; this one more tender than the last.

"You gotta admit," Bakura grinned, "those two can make anything look sexy."

"It's nice to see Malik isn't shy," Ryou sweatdropped, not knowing what else to say. "Um…I'm going for a drink. Do you want anything?"

"Get me a daiquiri, mango," the other called out, making his way to the dance floor to congratulate the two blondes. "Heavy on the syrup!"

The angel sighed and squeezed his way back to the bar, setting himself down on one of the velvet cushions at the very end. He was by himself, occasionally looking over his shoulder for any sign of his three companions. After making sure he was alone, he addressed the very familiar bartender.

"Yami."

"Ryou, it's about time you got here," the other angel smiled, wiping down a martini glass. "Has the demon's date asked for a drink yet?"

"No," Ryou replied shortly, "and I don't think he will. Yami, I can't do this."

"Getting cold feet are we?"

"If that's what it'll take to make you call this whole thing off, then yes. I may not approve of Malik, I don't like what he's done, and I certainly don't like him as a person…but Yami, I'm starting to think this has less to do with the safety of Marik and Bakura and more with you trying to get back at Seto Kaiba!"

"Whatever would give you that idea?" the older angel cooed.

"Yami please…"

"We've gone too far to turn back now. Malik won't get hurt, we're just going to send him back home, where he's supposed to be" Yami explained calmly. "It's for the best Ryou; everyone involved will be better off after we carry it out, including Malik."

"But I can't," Ryou stressed, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes, "I can't do this!"

"We've gone over this-"

"And you still won't listen to reason," the white haired angel hissed. "Yami, Malik's done nothing wrong, and I know that the affection between him and Marik is shared. Marik's not bewitched, Malik has no ill intent… He's just heartbroken, that's all… Please Yami…you need to call this off!"

Yami slammed the small glass onto the table so hard that a fine crack appeared on its lip. "Ryou, I think it's sweet that you're trying to wriggle your way out of doing this out of pity for that damned soul. However, it's foolish to endanger the lives of two humans just to see a happy ending come out of this distorted love story. I swear if you don't break the pearl, then I'll make Marik do it. I have everything I need for a short term possession charm-"

"Yami…if you slip that into Marik's drink…Malik will…" Ryou's heart clenched.

"Then save everyone the trouble and shatter the damn pearl like I told you to!"

Author's Note: Well, that went well. WHAT WILL HAPPEN? AHH! Review please! You know my quota. Oh! By the way, I've got a new chapter fic up, Fukushu; co-written with dolphinabottle (I just love spelling that, hee). Check it out, it's a must read! …Seriously, read it and review after you've finished reviewing this fic :3